The present invention relates to wear testers, and more particularly, to wear resistance testers of the kind which subject a sample of weatherstripping to repeated wear cycles.
Wear testers, also known as wear resistance testers, are generally employed in evaluation of the durability of various products. For example, a fabric may be desired to have a certain minimum durability, and a wear tester may be useful in evaluating the durability (or wear resistance) of a particular formulation of such fabric. This can enable evaluation and refinement of a particular manufacturing method.
Extruded elastomeric weatherstrips are commonly used to provide sealing between the openings in motor vehicle bodies and closure elements (such as the glass window panes) for those openings. These seals help to provide an air and water barrier between the outside environment and that of the interior of the motor vehicle. Typical weatherstrips for window elements include a base material (such as rubber) and a resilient coating (such as a flocking) adhered to the base. The flocking acts as a dry lubricant to reduce the sliding resistance of the pane against the weatherstripping.
Flocking may be applied to a weatherstrip using a variety of techniques, e.g., by rolling a suitable adhesive onto the surface of the base material and then delivering the fibers to the adhesive for adhering the fibers thereto. If such adhering is accomplished within an electrostatic field, the fibers tend to stand on end so as to increase the effectiveness of their lubricating action. Often the flock fibers are of a synthetic material, such as nylon or dacron, of less than one millimeter in length.
The quality of attachment of the flocking to the base material, i.e., how well the flock fibers are adhesively secured to the base material, will determine the life of a particular formulation of flocking, adhesive and base material. As well, the quality and durability of the flock fiber itself will impact upon such life.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a test apparatus which can adequately test in a controlled and reproducible manner the quality of a sample motor vehicle weatherstripping, such as may be useful in evaluating the durability of the flocking, the adhesive, and the base material of the sample.